Y-Shaped Feature Teams

gga

A repeated question I’ve had about my article on
mobile strategy is what I meant in my off-hand comment
about arranging ‘Y’ shaped feature teams. Clearly, it needs a little
more explanation.

Instead of arranging development efforts into teams that focus on
specific platforms, instead teams should focus on a feature, from end
to end, across all parts of your systems. From whatever services are
required right through to including the feature in the mobile apps, on
all platforms.

Of course, developers have preferences. And these preferences mean
that while everyone will probably be willing to jump into the
services, there’s going to be some specialisation in the apps. Hence
the ‘Y’ shape.

Why is this a good thing? It makes most sense when trying to grow an
application across multiple platforms simultaneously. Aligning the
team with your unit of delivery means you will actually be able to
deliver those units, independently. It’s also good for consistency,
and it’ll be cheaper as only one team will need to understand the
feature.